Worldcoin exchange in Thailand raided by regulators, arrest made

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) has raided a Worldcoin exchange service beside a World biometric registration location in the country for allegedly running an unlicensed digital asset business. People working for World were arrested as suspects, according to the government announcement.

The regulator argues that World qualifies as a digital asset business operator under Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018), Section 3. It does not hold a license to operate such a business, violating Section 26, and therefore faces penalties of up to 5 years in prison and 500,000 baht (approximately US$15,318) in fines under Section 66. Should the operations continue, additional fines of 10,000 baht a day can be levied against an offender.

The raid of World exchange services was made at one of the company’s orb deployments, where people scan their iris biometrics to verify their World ID.

A company representative told Biometric Update in an email that the individual arrested is not affiliated with World or Tools for Humanity.

“This collaboration will enhance the effectiveness of law enforcement in prosecuting and suppressing unlicensed digital asset businesses, while protecting users from lack of legal protection and mitigating risks of scams and money laundering,” says SEC Deputy Secretary-General Jomkwan Kongsakul.

The SEC warned Thais to exercise caution in dealing with Worldcoin, the native cryptocurrency of the World platform. A small amount of WLD is issued to each person who registers their iris biometrics to create a cryptographic “proof of humanity.” A government spokesperson warned against “trading such biometric data for a small reward” at the time.

World has continued to expand its operations in the country, however, surpassing 100 locations where its iris biometrics-collecting orbs operate.

Colombia ordered World to shutter its operations in that country just a week ago, citing alleged violations of data protection law. And in the Philippines, the company is pushing back on an order from authorities to its developer Tools for Humanity to stop collecting iris biometrics.

This post was updated at 5:19pm Eastern on October 24, 2025 to include the response from World.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  cryptocurrency  |  iris biometrics  |  law enforcement  |  Thailand  |  World  |  World ID